The invention pertains to a method for heating a horizontal resting surface for persons, especially for patients in a hospital, where the horizontal resting surface is irradiated by at least one radiation source mounted a certain distance away, and to an irradiation apparatus.
An irradiation apparatus for supplying heat continuously to a horizontal surface on which a person is resting is known from EP 254 838 B1. For this purpose, small-area heat radiators are provided, which are set up a certain distance above the corner points of a polygon surrounding the horizontal resting area.
It has been found to be a problem that, to mark out the radiation area, additional beams of light must be used to actually see where the irradiation area is; in addition, the heat absorption is subject to significant external interference, such as, for example, voltage fluctuations in the power supply of the radiator, variable ambient temperatures, and irregularities in the heat exchange between the irradiated surface and the environment.
An irradiation apparatus such as this, furthermore, is not at all suitable for preheating horizontal resting surfaces in the form of beds for patients, because the known irradiation apparatus is intended for the continuous irradiation of patients or infants, and no provisions are made to make it easy to replace one horizontal resting surface with another under the irradiation apparatus.
An electric light bath for treating areas of the human body with heat is also known from EP 275 817 B1; this apparatus includes at least one infrared source; radiation primarily in the wavelength range of 716-1,300 nm is produced by the radiation element. Rod-shaped infrared radiator elements are installed in a housing provided with reflectors, and a glass envelope and/or filter assembly is provided to reduce the amount of visible light. During use, it is possible to individually adjust the irradiation intensity by means of a control unit.
Because of the multiple reflectors in the beam outlet area, an apparatus of this type is not really suitable for heating the horizontal surfaces of hospital beds, because, first, the caregivers would perceive the reflectors as difficult to position, and, second, because it would also be necessary to deal with radiators of relatively large dimensions but without much ability to focus the rays.